Multimedia course syllabus
November 27, 2007 in Academics, Multimedia Course
JANUARY 2009 UPDATE: New Syllabus version here. #
UPDATE: Check out the FAQ about the syllabus #
UPDATE 2: Here’s the proposed mojo kit for the class. #
Yesterday, I mentioned that Eastern Illinois University has approved a multimedia journalism class as a requirement for journalism majors beginning in Fall 2008. Below the fold, I’m posting the tentative course outline and some syllabus information for anyone who might want to take a look. Keep in mind that this is an introductory class. The goal is to give every student a rudimentary knowledge of different ways to tell stories with multimedia. From there, if they want to learn more, there are advanced classes. #
Students in the class are required to pay a lab fee, which will help with the purchase of necessary equipment. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. #
Intro to Multimedia Journalism #
Description #
An Introduction to basic elements of multimedia journalistic storytelling, including audio, video, slideshows, and online journalism formats. #
Outcomes #
Students will be able to: #
- identify elements of multiple media used in journalistic storytelling.
- critically evaluate professional journalistic multimedia packages.
- produce audio story packages.
- produce video story packages.
- combine audio and still photographs to produce audio slideshows.
- demonstrate understanding of characteristics of online journalistic storytelling.
- produce stories for online news site.
Audio Package: 20%; Video Package: 20%; Weblog critiques: 10%; Exams: 15%; Final Multimedia Project: 30%; Attendance: 5% #
Course Outline #
Week 1: Introduction and Overview: What is multimedia journalism? Definition of terms, history of multimedia storytelling and how the Internet has changed journalism, challenges and opportunities, and the development of multimedia journalism within media industry #
Week 2: Conceptualizing multimedia stories: How to plan a story to incorporate several media in ways that are effective.
Storyboard development: Planning a multimedia project through the use of storyboarding – laying the story out visually
Week 3: Writing for the Web: How web stories differ from print; How web readers/viewers read stories; what is SEO and why it matters in headline writing. Hyperlinks: What are they? Why are they important? How to make them? What to link to? #
Week 4: Weblogs: What is a weblog; weblogging conventions ‚- blogrolls, posts, permalinks, traffic, conversation; setting up your own weblog. Implications of weblog use for journalists: Are weblogs journalism? Examples of professional journalists who blog; weblogs as watchdogs. #
Week 5: Basic audio storytelling techniques: What makes for good audio; definitions; examples of effective audio usage online.
Equipment use and technical specifications: How to use a digital audio recorder; microphone basics; terminology. #
Week 6: Audio (cont.): Importing and editing audio with computer software: options available, including Garageband, Audacity, and others; basic inferface conventions; basic editing; terminology; exporting. #
Week 7: Audio Slideshows: Combining audio and still photographs; planning the story; examples from industry; using Soundslides software package.
Best practices for audio slideshows: Do’s and don’ts; thinking about the viewer; captioning and titling. #
Week 8: Podcasting: easily distributing audio content online; definitions; how to set up a podcast; best practices; industry use and the future of podcasting. #
Week 9: Basic online video storytelling techniques: What makes for good video; definitions; examples of effective online video.
Quantity vs. quality: the newspaper online video debate, making the case for quality; making the case for quantity. #
Week 10: Video equipment: what to use and when to use it: Camera basics; purchasing a camera – what to look for; microphone usage; tripods; video recording formats. #
Week 11: Video editing for online journalism: Importing video to a computer; using iMovie as a basic video editor; discussion of higher-end editing software; basic editing techniques; do’s and don’ts; exporting a final video project.
Flash video encoding and embedding explained: What is Flash and why is it important for video? How to encode video using Flash software; How to embed a video onto a web page; best practices. #
Week 12: Legal concerns in multimedia journalism: Copyright and ownership; release forms and when to use them; slander. #
Week 13: Ethical concerns in multimedia journalism: Privacy; Manipulation of digital images, audio and video – what’s right and what’s wrong with this picture? #
Week 14: Usability: Making multimedia content easy to find on your news web site for the present and for the future; helping readers navigate a multimedia package once they find it. #
Week 15: Packaging the multimedia story: Putting all the pieces together in one package; how to bundle story pieces effectively; Testing a package before launch; Revising a site once it’s launched. #
Very cool course! I would have loved to take something like that in undergrad. Kudos for the Mac-software integration!
This is looking good Bryan. You have covered all the key areas and it is very similar to the multiplatform journalism course I run at the University of British Columbia. How much practical work are you having the students do? I have found that the practical exercises often take much longer than expected. Are you also planning to go into issues like user-generated content or crowdsourcing? There is just so much ground to cover.
Alfred, the plan is for most of it to be hands-on. I won't necessarily be touching on crowdsourcing, databases, or user-generated content that much, except in passing. I've noticed a similar thing with practical work, that it always takes longer than you budget for, but there are some "wiggle room" weeks that could be used for the projects. I'm also thinking about whether to have students work in teams or individually. I haven't quite decided yet.
I'd like to get your take on a new software application called the FEEDJOURNAL.
http://www.feedjournal.com
The application allows you to organize and print your RSS feeds out in a Newspaper Format.
You can see an example of the full version on my blogsite:
http://www.newscloud.blogspot.com
I also wrote about how a RSS Print Advertising Model might work.
I'd love to see you write an article from the perspective of newspaper industry professionals.
Thanks,
~Joel
Bryan,
Thank you for posting this outline. I'm working on a course proposal for my district; I teach in a public high school in northern California. There aren't a lot of examples for this (on the high school level) so your overview is a great reference point for me.
Again, I'd have killed for a course like that in j-school. Very awesome.
Question: do you plan on having a course website with tutorials, examples, related background information, etc.? It'd be a great resource for other j-students at universities w/o a multimedia course to come to and learn.
Impressive and ambitious course. I would strongly recommend you have the students work in pairs, or teams, on most of the assignments. I have had much better results now that my students produce multimedia assignments in pairs — one working primarily as a reporter, the other as a producer.
But I have a question. You say this will be a compulsory course for journalism majors. Does it replace something else? If so, what? It's easy to see why a course such as this should be a requirement. It's more difficult to figure out what to drop to make room for it. I'd be very interested in what you did.
Mary,
we have "tracks" in our program, so we lowered the credit hour requirements for each track from 15 hours to 12 hours to make room for this course. We also were up against the 40-hour limit imposed by ACEJMC accreditation guidelines.
I'll try to post our new "core" courses as soon as I can find the file on my computer.
Just a question: Where in the sequence does this course come in? I suspect it is at the junior or senior level rather than the freshman or sophomore level. While that would be typical university thinking, I think it is wrong. Imagine if these students learned these skill sets early in their training rather than at the end. Imagine how it would change their thinking as they learn and practice their journalism skills.
Rick,
The course sequence before this one is:
Journalism & Democracy (intro)
Basic Newswriting
Visual Communication (intro)
Multimedia storytelling
so it's pretty early in the sequence. I don't think you could put it too much earlier (before newswriting? Don't think so). I think they did end up giving it a 3000 level sequence number to prevent people from trying to replace it with a transfer credit.
Kiyoshi, I'm sure there will be a course web site of some sort. Next fall we'll have a "training wheels" version of the class with a lower enrollment (before the freshmen start getting up to the point where they need it), so I'll be working on just that this summer, I'm sure.
Wow. That's ambitious. Can we have progress reports, as you get the chance, throughout the semester?
If I credit you, may I just steal the whole thing?
I like the idea of this syllabus. I’ll be curious to find out how the class goes and what changes you might want to make to the course.
My only concern is that it might be too ambitious. I don’t know how many hours a week your students are supposed to be in class or spend outside of class, but you don’t want to rush them through everything. Although, it’s hard for me to say one way or the other without knowing how your j-school program works.
One area you probably should mention is (X)HTML and CSS. I’m not saying that you need to teach students this in this introductory course, because it is harder to grasp than some of the other stuff, but I’d at least go over it and explain how it impacts journalism. A lot of multimedia projects have to be put together with a (X)HTML and CSS backbone.
Is you program also considering offering upper-level courses for students who want to learn more about a certain area or take there training to the next level?
The course is looking good. I wish more schools thought like this.
Nice syllabus, Bryan! One thing I would take a close look at is Week 2 — seems a bit too early for them to be thinking "big picture." I find the students have not been exposed to many examples of multimedia journalism, so at the beginning of a course, they don't really KNOW what it is!
I share Pat's concern that it might be too much in one course. But you'll figure out what fits and what should be cut as you teach it the first time.
Mindy,
Now that I think about it, you're probably right. I'll actually probably move that back a little.
As I mentioned to Pat, I realize it's ambitious, and it'll get paired back. I remember the first time I taught newswriting and had dedicated one week to ledes in the syllabus (that's what the book had!) – we spent three weeks on ledes.
This looks great! What textbook will you be using (if any)? Thanks!
[...] an itemized list for the multimedia storytelling class at Eastern Illinois University (see here for syllabus and here for FAQ). Below the fold, I’m pasting the list I sent to my department [...]
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